Politics

Currently Reading:

The Fall – Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

Most Recently Watched:

Insidious – in theaters

A State of Mind

Current Obsession:

Politics

Some of my biggest pet peeves:

1. Hypocrisy

2. Narrow-mindedness

3. Getting blamed

4. Being told what to do

5. Not being able to speak my mind

I'm a Liberal Democrat and damn proud of it. I have an Obama sticker on my car. I recycle. I have close friends who are gay. If my Facebook says Liberal then it's official, right? I'm not sure how much more obvious it can get. I realize that I don't always look the part. When you think of the stereotypical liberal Oregonian you automatically picture either a hipster from Portland (black-rimmed glasses, skinny jeans, flannel shirts) or a hippie from Eugene (tie-dye shirts, hemp jewelry, dreadlocks). Perhaps it is because I work in a conservative work environment with a fairly strict dress code that my true colors don't show. If it would make it easier for people I would gladly wear a name tag that said

Hello! My name is

LIBERAL :)

I believe the name tag requires a smiley face because I'm not an aggressive Liberal. I'm not here to get in any one's face or push my "liberal agenda." I don't openly advertise my views because I understand that politics (along with religion) is a touchy topic. One that shouldn't be discussed at work.

Seriously now, isn't this some kind of unspoken rule? That you don't discuss politics at work?

I'm not one to shy away from a debate, especially on subjects that I am passionate about (or when I KNOW I'm right). But when at work I just don't feel comfortable getting into a debate nor do I feel that it is an appropriate environment for one. So I keep mum.

I know many of my liberal compadres feel the same. Unfortunately, our silent considerateness can be mistaken for conservative agreement.

Not only am I wonderfully liberal, I am also proudly agnostic. I cannot confidently say that there is no God but I'm not confident that there is either. I don't pretend to know because I don't think we can know. But I'm not here to discuss the existence of God. I bring up the fact that I am religion-free because I constantly get emails at work from super Christian coworkers with cutesy religious anecdotes, sparkling candles showing Jesus's burning love for me, and threats that if I don't forward it on to 50 people I will be condemned to hell. Now, I love these people and I know they love me back so the nicest thing I can do is simply delete the email. No harm done. I don't offend them by not sharing their ideals and I don't risk getting preached to.

But when it happens in person there is no "delete" button, no "escape" key.

I love my coworkers. I really do. I think they're amazing people with good hearts and good intentions. But just because I love them doesn't mean I agree with them and I certainly don't agree with them in the realm of politics.

When the topic of the potential governmental shutdown came up (very innocently I believe) it suddenly turned into an Obama slam-fest. I realize that many people are disenchanted with him, including previous supporters who had initially voted for him. But I remain staunchly supportive and I certainly have my reasons for it, reasons that I may go into when I next feel politically charged (and it happens quite often so it may be sooner than you think). And when I hear someone go on a tirade about my president, a president whom I am proud to call mine unlike He Who Shall Not Be Named, I begin to bristle.

It makes me laugh (in an ironic way, not in a hearty, full-of-merriment sort of way) when Republicans badmouth our leader so freely when it was absolutely unpatriotic for us to do so about G.W. Especially in a time of war, as we were so frequently told. The last I checked, we're still in that same war. Shouldn't the same rules be applied to this new president? But no, now it is the American thing to do, to question our leader and put the people of this country first! If they wanted to put us first they wouldn't have re-elected that monkey who plunged our country into a recession in the first place!

And if that's not enough to talk poorly about Obama, let's just drag Clinton into it. I may not agree with his personal decisions (that blue dress was his downfall) but as a president you have to give him props. Remember that surplus? Oh, those were happy times.

As I sat there listening to the Republican babble pouring out of their mouths, I was brimming with arguments backed by facts (not found on Fox News because let's face it, it's not news, it's propaganda), statistics, and pure liberal passion.

But I kept my mouth shut.

Please refer back to Biggest Pet Peeve #5.

How is it fair for them to say whatever they want nary a care that they may offend someone, anger someone, even hurt them? They are lucky that I keep my mouth shut. If I were to do the same I would undoubtedly spark some kind of debate, stir up some ugly feelings, or be told "I have my opinions, you have yours, I don't care to hear them." This is all from personal experience.

And because I love my coworkers and I don't want to create any bad blood between us, I keep my mouth shut. I take walks to cool off. I vent to like-minded liberals who allow me to spew whatever political bullcrap I want to. And now I blog.

It's exhausting to be so riled up over things you cannot change. At the end of the day I just have to remember that I can love a person dearly but I don't have to agree with their politics. It's not so difficult when my biggest political adversaries are my parents. They've given me plenty of good practice.

And now I'm off to bed. Hopefully my next post will be less angry and more frivolous. Cupcakes may be involved. Good night!